Beverly Hills bans plug in hybrids from public charging stations...

Those should be valet parking.

Bob Wilson

 

You expect valets to know how to charge an EV?
Some do not know how to start a Prius even with a valet instruction card.

 

I would suspect that most of the BEV's that are plugged into public charging stations don't actually need the electricity, they have enough range to get home, they are plugging in just because it is free. In that case no different than a PHEV which also doesn't "need" the electricity. I can understand that in some situations a BEV may be outside of its range and it actually needs the electricity in order to make it home. But in that case a Tesla which is charging "just because it can" is blocking them just as much as a PHEV would be. How to differentiate and give priority to the people who actually need the electricity? I don't see how that's possible, and trying to legislate it is just making things worse.

 

SNFU - situation normal.

 

From what I can tell they were not.

 

What worries me is dozens of different charging regulations in different jurisdictions. In the end, you can’t legislate courtesy.

 

The KISS solution is to simply charge a fee of some type for using the charger. The freeloaders will stop since any rates at a public charger are going to be more than what they pay at home, and possibly even for gas.

 

I wonder if they can, since the money to install the EVSEs was a grant.

 

Beverly Hills is adding fees in addition to banning PHEVs.

 

Typical driver seen at free public charging stations:

 

Ah HA! Now we know where the CARB members live. Their hatred of plugin hybrids is self evident.

Bob Wilson

 

I think they wouldn't want any chargers in their neighborhood. Those take resources away from hydrogen stations.

 

With one of those, are you ever going to be dead-in-the-water due to lack of charge? If not, it's a Plug-In hybrid in my books.

 

Not as limited as you might think. To qualify for BEVx only requires that the car cannot go farther in extended mode than it can in pure EV mode. In fact the 2.4 gallon fuel tank in the i3 would carry it farther in extended mode than the approximately 100 mile EV range. So to qualify for CARB the U.S. models have software which artificially limits tank size to 1.9 gallons, resulting in an extended range of "only" about 80 miles. Sure that's far different than a regular PHEV, but you are still potentially using almost as much gasoline as you are electricity. In fact I have heard that once extended mode kicks in you can stay in that mode almost indefinitely by filling up with gas every 50 miles or so, as long as you don't have a lot of hills to climb and don't go over about 70 mph. So on a day with a lot of driving you can actually use more gas than electricity in an i3. Not that an i3 owner would do that on a regular basis but it is possible.

 

Why a BEV holds no attraction to me:
http://www.hybridcars.com/2018-chevrolet-bolt-ev-review-good-burbs/

Executive summary: A level 2, home charger is mandatory. Going to 3d party chargers is a 'pig in a poke.'

I am looking to replace our BMW L1 charger with a dual voltage, 120-240VAC, 30A, EVSE with a NEMA 14-50 plug (RV parks) and adapters for NEMA 7-30 (dryer plug) and NEMA 5-15 and 5-20 plugs.

Bob Wilson

 

CARB also requires that the battery be near depleted before hybrid made can be engaged. Which means the i3 owner can't engage the ICE until 5% charge versus the 80% or 75% point at which BMW intended. The engine wasn't sized to provide full power for the car like it does for the Volt or Prime, but work with grid charge during high demand situations. It can maintain a highway speed while cruising, but will need power from the battery for passing or climbing a hill.

CARB severely limiting the amount of grid charge left when hybrid mode can be turned on is why I say they have hobbled the car, and why owners of complained about it being under powered here. By not letting the driver turn on the ICE sooner when they know they will need the extra range, CARB might actually be forcing the cars to burn more gas as the engine needs to work harder without battery grid charge to assist it.

 

I don't know about mandatory, but I'll agree that it is darn good idea for most people.

What is the big deal ? I paid $200 for an electrician to install a 15-40 outlet; you can probably easily make do with $50 of stuff from Home Depot

So far as the EVSE goes, some cars come with 120/240v equipment, some only a mobile 120v and then you pay ~ $500. What is that , up to 2-3% added to the price of the car ?

 

I don't quite understand the point of a BEVx. Since it by law can only go as far on gasoline as in EV, why not just lose the ICE and all of its associated emissions equipment, radiator, fuel tank, etc, etc, and just double the battery size?

Unless they expect people to use the extended mode as described above to convert the car into an underpowered low-range hybrid.

 

great article, i could have written it myself. i do think charging infrastructure will get to where it needs to be eventually.
i put in level 2 after owning the pip for 2 months. hard to believe, bur 90 minutes is way better than 3 hours, when you're coming and going all day with a 10-15 mile range.

 

I have one, a 2014 BMW i3-REx, and no interest in any BEV:

• Refueling the gas engine takes 1.9-2.3 gallons in minutes.
• Following high-balling trucks, it easily keeps up with them on the highway.
• No problem with urban driving at substantially slower speeds.
• The 168 hp motor maintains its SOC as long as there is gas.
• Only California/CARB state law would object to coding that makes the car work as designed:
  • Enable range extender at 75% for cross country trips and refuel 5-10 minutes every ~70 miles.
  • Set the empty tank limit from 1.9 to 2.3 gallons which increase refuel range to ~85 miles.
  • Set the default drive mode between street racer and hair-shirt efficiency which improves efficiency.

Our other car, a 2017 Prius Prime is more efficient around town, especially above 50F, and cross country. So our requirements for city and cross country travel are met with both cars.

Refueling the BMW is a 'charge' rate of ~850 miles per hour (85 mi tank range x 10 minutes.) That would a charger with ~213 kW rate ((85/4) * 10). My last fillip, ~$6, would cost $60 for those 850 miles. Not as cheap as electricity, ~$21.30, but still affordable with a higher block-to-block speed.

I don't fault those who choose a pure BEV since they signup for all the cross country delays.

Bob Wilson